Americana singer-songwriter Douglas Wayne, aka ‘DW,’ introduces his new single/music video, “LA,” a track lifted from his upcoming debut album, Coyote, slated for release on April 22.
DW explains, “I lived out in LA a while back and, as you hear in the song, ‘the afternoon drinkin’ wore me out.’ It was the experience of a time and place I wouldn’t trade but had to leave. I met and hung out with some very cool people at some very cool bars but there was no shaking the notion I was just ‘hangin’ on at the edge of a starstruck town.’ The song is about more than the town, though. It’s about those relationships that still mean a lot to me but didn’t last, couldn’t last, and I wouldn’t go back to. The idea for the song came to me as I was waking up one morning. I was thinking about some old girlfriend and from somewhere the phrase ‘I miss you like I miss LA’ just came out of the blue.”
After trying to make it as a scriptwriter in LA, DW moved East to take a crack at writing songs for Music Row, where he got fed up, followed by heading south to Nashville to write and record Coyote, a 10-track collection of music produced by Daniel Dennis (Beth Crowley, Chris Michael, Callie Prince).
Talking about recording “LA,” DW says, I went into the studio knowing I wanted the track stripped down and ethereal — really wanted to capture a sense of distance and remembrance. Originally, I was thinking keyboard fills along with the acoustic guitar but my co-producer, Daniel Dennis, picked up an electric guitar, ran it through a couple of FX boxes, and started doing his thing with the wah-wah pedal. Right away he was capturing the vibe and I was like ‘that’s it, man.’
“LA” opens on a low-slung, cashmere guitar emanating sparkling colors as DW’s evocative voice infuses the lyrics with wistful nostalgia. Soft, crying tones give the tune delicious eddying textures.
“I miss you like I miss LA / Still think about it almost every day / Hanging on at the edge of a star-struck town / Till the afternoon drinking wore me out / It was good for a while, I couldn’t stay / I miss you like I miss LA.”
The video presents a photomosaic of Los Angeles, the traffic, the towering buildings, and palm trees. Highlighting the visuals, the beautiful visage of Tatjana Gainey imbues the video with a warm human element.
At once unassuming yet oh so sensitive, “LA” reflects the quiet energy of memory.
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